As a volunteer I thought the went very OTT on length of road closure times. And the sweeper vans went by with competitors still on course. The german champ went by with two of his team way after the vans.

Surprised they didnot have more incidents, but notice how they are keeping it quiet. One of the support cars was very close to a rider along the A24 and had a near miss. Also a few further back cyclists were riding inches off the back bumper of their support vehicle, which was entertaining/scary on the approach to R turns at the roundabout on A24.

I hope they tell the drivers to keep back a bit more on the day itself or it is likely to be Tour de France style carnage and unfortunately it will be either cyclists or spectators hurt.

I was surprised to see so many vehicles in amongst the riders, is this normal in road races? To me it seems unfair to be allowed to draft off a vehicle, fair enough other riders, but vehicles no.

I think that's pretty normal for a bike race - you get riders drafting cars - it's allowed to an extent to get back to the bunch after a mechanical or whatever - they will ride very close and if you aren't used to it it probably looks more dangerous than it is.

That incident on the video looks a bit dodgy given the car is virtually on the grass verge but if people will insist on watching an event through the lens of a camera !

The whole point of keeping the roads closed for longer was for me! Well not quite but it worked well. I jumped on my bike and followed the race about 5 mins behind. Marshalls whistled and cleared the road for me, and the crowd applauded and loved me. Clearly my Katusha cap was making me look pro.

Therefore im all for keeping the roads closed longer so I can pretend to be a pro longer. I need 3 domestiques to deliver me so I can take on Cav. I need big Jens, Big George and maybe Renshaw. That should do it.

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